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Tuesday, 12 February 2013

Eggless Pancakes

When I was growing up, we had pancakes a little different. My older sister has allergies to both eggs and dairy, so my Mum invented new recipes for all sorts of cakes and deserts. This was back in the 90's, before the internet, and such things as vegan cakes and deserts were available to buy. So here is my take on my Mum's recipe for egg-free milk-free pancakes.

This recipe makes only around 3/4 pancakes, but is easily doubled/tripled/quadrupled, depending on how hungry you are...!

First, sieve the flour with the salt into a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in the oil. Gradually whisk the mixture together adding a little water at a time, until the batter is still thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, but not too watery. If the batter is quite lumpy, don't fret! I find whisking like crazy tends to do the trick, or if all else fails strain through a sieve.

Now of course if dairy is not a problem, add some milk to the batter, or even buttermilk/soya milk as an alternative. Personally I use a combination of half water/half milk for egg pancakes, as I like them quite light. Top Tip: You can also add soda water or even lemonade in place of the water, this makes the batter light and bubbly.

Just before you are ready to cook the pancakes, add the lemon juice to the bicarbonate of soda (it should froth up), add this to the batter and stir in very gently. Put a frying pan on a high heat and grease it with oil, enough so the frying pan is shiny, but there are no pools of liquid. When the pan is hot enough, pour a small amount of batter into the pan and wiggle it around so the surface is covered. when the edges start to lift away from the pan, lift up to see if the underside is cooked. Then flip and cook for 30 seconds on the other side. Then flip it about to your hearts delight and add whatever topping takes your fancy.

If you fancy going out to eat pancakes instead, my favourite place to eat pancakes in London is My Old Dutch. The Dutch make the most amazing little fluffy pancakes, served with butter and a pile of icing sugar called Poffertjes.